Reflection: Saint Catherine of Siena...Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire...

Look at the sweetness of the tender fruit, the spotless Lamb, the seed sown in Mary as in a lovely field!...Our rational will has been made even stronger by God's union with humanity. I beg you in Christ gentle Jesus to lift your love, your affection, your desire up high. Take hold of the tree of the most holy cross and let it be planted in the garden of your soul, because this is a tree laden with fruits, the true solid virtues. For you see very well that beyond God's union with his creature, He has joined Himself to the Most Holy Cross. And He wills, He insists, that we too join ourselves to this sweet tree in love and desire. Then our garden cannot help producing sweet and tender fruit.  Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Psalm 23:3

It is so important to continually acknowledge God's Presence and pray because He restores our souls. He guides us in the paths of righteousness for His glory, so that we will lead others to Him too.

We were created to be living souls for God.
Do not let the "ways of this world" cause distress in your soul. Reach out to the Lord, and let Him restore you. He will help you see beyond all the problems and to see His glory. When our hearts and souls ache, reach out to God. Only God can restore our souls. Let us place our trust in Him. When we feel troubled, threatened, when we stumble or fall, God is always there to help us. God is always there to restore our souls but we must want Him to do it, and allow Him to do it. God can and does make a difference in our lives so that we can make a difference in our world.



Loving God, restore our souls. Jesus, You are our Comforter and Counselor. We trust in You. Blessed Mother Mary, we entrust all our prayer intentions into your loving care.

Mary Undoer of Knots

How this devotion started?
To show us the mission granted to the Virgin Mary by Her Son, an unknown artist painted Mary Undoer of Knots with great grace. Since 1700, his painting has been venerated in the Church of St. Peter in Perlack, Germany.

It was originally inspired by a meditation of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, martyred in 202, based on the parallel made by Saint Paul between Adam and Christ.

Saint Irenaeus made a comparison between Eve and Mary, saying:

"Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it."

But what are these knots?
The knots are any problem or struggle in families which appears to have no solution: discord, division, lack of understanding, disrespect, violence, deep hurts, lack of peace and joy in the home, anguish and despair of broken families, drug or alcohol addiction, sickness, separation from family or from God, fear, abortion, depression, unemployment, loneliness. These knots weigh us down and separate us from God.

Gaze at the picture of Mary Undoer of Knots.
Two angels stand out. One of them holds on to a ribbon, the ribbon of our lives, full of knots big and small. One angel, holding onto the ribbon of our life and gives it to Mary, the Undoer of Knots saying, “We trust you, Mother; You can help us. Undo the knots of our lives!” Then, Mary takes our life into her holy hands and with her long fingers of mercy goes on to undo each knot, one after the other. Look at her and feel her love and tenderness as she looks at you, her beloved child.  Watch and see what happens.  The ribbon becomes free of knots, through the mercy and holiness of Mary Undoer of Knots. The other angel comes to us taking the smooth ribbon of our lives, Look at what Mary does through her intercession.  Trust her and place your lives in her hands.

The Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots brings hope when we we put our lives in our Mother’s hands. Mary stayed during nine days surrounded by the Apostles in the cenacle, the Upper Room, praying for the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Through her prayer, she taught us to have faith, to persevere and not to be discouraged. The Mother of God prayed and gave courage to the Apostles to pray for nine days that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

O Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for us.

Reflection: Woman, why are you weeping?

The promise is made to you and to your children, and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call. Acts 2:39


This promise is the gift of the Holy Spirit that Peter spoke of on the day of Pentecost. Jesus has risen from the dead!  Morning has broken.

But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid Him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to Him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take Him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them, 'I am going to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'" Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what He told her. John 20:11-18

Imagine how heartbroken Mary was when she saw the tomb was empty. Place yourself at the tomb with Mary, weeping with her. Suddenly, Jesus is standing there and he says, "Woman, why are you weeping?" As you look at Him, you realize it is Jesus.  He is risen!  You run to Him and He says, "Stop holding on to me." How often do you want to hold onto something, but you have to let go? How do we let go?  We let go by asking Jesus to help us.  He wants us to let go of attachments to the world and to people. He wants us to go and tell others about Him and how much He loves us.


Jesus is calling us to go and tell others about Him. We cannot hold onto Him for ourselves. Jesus is commissioning us to go. We are sent out to proclaim the Gospel. When we bring others to our Blessed Mother Mary, she will bring them to her Beloved Son.